International oil firm eyes Egypt for projects

Egypt's Prime Minister Atef Ebeid received on Wednesday Charles Watson, executive manager of the international oil Shell company for the Middle East, South Asia, East Europe and his accompanying delegation.

Minister of Petroleum Sameh attended the meeting.

Watson said following the meeting that he had talks with Ebeid on increasing the volume of Shell investments in Egypt.

He hailed the investment atmosphere in Egypt, adding that he reviewed with the prime minister the two projects to be carried out by his company in Egypt.

The first project is designed to liquefy natural gas and the second is aimed at extracting a variety of oil substances.

Meanwhile, Minister of Petroleum said Egypt possesses large opportunities for Shell's projects on the Egyptian territories.

He made it clear that extracting oil substances required $ 1.8 billion, adding that the investments going into the project of liquefying gas amounted to $ one billion.

"The technology to be used in the two projects is the most up-to-date in the field of petrochemicals," he said.

The two projects are expected to achieve investment revenues estimated at $ 8 billion during the operation period, ranging between 15 and 20 years, he added.